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UCD 0 Bohemians 2
Danny Mandroiu scored a cracking goal to set Bohemians on their way to a second win of the season as they had far too much for promoted UCD at the UCD Bowl.
The victory sets up an early top of the table clash on Monday when Shamrock Rovers visit Dalymount Park in the big Dublin derby.
UCD started well, wasting a chance to score just 26 seconds in when Jason McClelland side-footed wide from Neil Farrugia’s cross.
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Bohemians settled with Keith Buckley and Dinny Corcoran coming close before the brilliance of Mandroiu lit up the game on 29 minutes.
And the former Republic of Ireland youth international, man-of-the-match in last week’s home win over Finn Harps, did it all himself.
Cutting past several defenders in from the left, the 20-year-old struck a right-foot drive from 20 yards that arrowed to the net off the underside of the crossbar.
It got better for Bohemians three minutes later as they doubled their advantage.
Left back Paddy Kirk got to the end line to cross for Corcoran to score with a spectacular left-foot volley.
UCD worked hard to get back into the game from the resumption with skipper Gary O’Neill testing James Talbot from a free-kick early on.
McClelland was presented with an opening inside the area on 76 minutes, bringing a good save from Talbot.
And the Bohemians goalkeeper was there again five minutes later to turn a Conor Davis effort round a post.
UCD: Kearns; Tobin, Collins, Scales, Dignam; Coffey (Doyle, 69 mins), McClelland, Molloy, O'Neill, Farrugia; Davis (Mahdy, 83 mins).
BOHEMIANS: Talbot; Pender, Cornwall (Barry, 83 mins), Finnerty, Leahy; Wade-Slater (Swan, 77 mins), Buckley, Levingston, Ward; Mandroiu; Corcoran (Regba, 82 mins).
Referee: Seán Grant (Wexford)
Cork City 0 Waterford 2
Goals in injury time at the end of each half gave Waterford a first league win in Cork since 2011 and first top-flight victory at Turner’s Cross since 2004.
Bastien Héry struck in the 48th minute of the first half for Alan Reynolds’s side and then, having soaked up Cork City pressure, they counterattacked at the death, with Zak Elbouzedi on target.
They were unlucky not to have had the lead as early as the 10th minute. Some lovely skill from Héry took him past Alan Bennett and into the Cork area and, while he could have shot, he squared it for Scott Twine, who looked to have tapped in but Mark McNulty made a super save, diving backwards to stop the ball on the line.
At the other end, City struggled to create clear-cut chances, with a nice Graham Cummins drag-back setting up Liam Nash but Kenny Browne did well to block.
In the 40th minute, the Rebel Army finally worked Matt Connor in for the first time, as Kevin O’Connor’s volley from Dáire O’Connor’s cross was saved by the goalkeeper’s legs.
Coming up to half-time, Twine wasn’t far wide from distance but Waterford didn’t have long to wait as Héry struck in the third minute of injury time, creating a chance with nice footwork and sending a low shot to the net.
With the lead, Waterford were happy to sit back and counterattack in the second half and City struggled to break them down, even after changing to a 4-4-2.
Twine nearly made it 2-0 but shot wide while Karl Sheppard went closest to a home equaliser on 71, Kevin Feely stopping his shot on the line. They continued to press and at the death Waterford broke well, with Zak Elbouzedi firing home.
CORK CITY: McNulty; McCarthy, Bennett (Casey, 55 mins), McLoughlin, Hurley (Comerford, half-time); Buckley, K O'Connor; D O'Connor, Tilley, Sheppard; Cummins (Nash, 68 mins).
WATERFORD: Connor; Feely, Browne, Delaney, Lynch (Kougoun, 86 mins); Lunney (Chvedukas, 75 mins), Duggan; Elbouzedi, Héry, Twine; Akinade (Drinan, 65 mins).
Referee: D Tomney (Dublin).
Attendance: 4,382.
Sligo Rovers 0 St Patrick’s Athletic 1
Mikey Drennan scored a dramatic injury-time winner against his former club to claim a huge three points for St Patrick’s Athletic at the Showgrounds.
Drennan headed home from just yards out with virtually the last action of the game to snatch the win for his side for the second game in a row.
It was heart-breaking for former Pat’s boss Liam Buckley, whose side looked to have done enough to make it back-to-back draws to start the season.
Their prospects were dented midway through the first half as the luckless Johnny Dunleavy strained his groin in making a clearance and was replaced by debutant Lewis Banks.
And there was little else of incident to report in the opening 45 minutes, with Jack Keaney’s free-kick a minute before the break the only real moment of threat at either end.
Pat’s attackers Rhys McCabe and Drennan returned to the Showgrounds for the first time since opting for the Saints instead of the Bit O’ Red in the winter, and always looked the most likely to conjure something up for the visitors as they improved in the second half.
And with the large crowd starting to head for the exit, Drennan popped up to win it at the death.
SLIGO: McGinty, Dunleavy (Banks, 22 mins), Leverock, Mahon, Donelon, Callan-McFadden, Keaney, Fordyce, Twardek, Parkes, Coughlan.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Clarke, Webster, Toner, Desmond, Madden, Clifford, Bermingham, Forrester (Miele, 76 mins), McCabe, Drennan.
Referee: D McGrath.
Finn Harps 1 Dundalk 1
Champions Dundalk were held to a second successive draw as they had to come from behind to get a point against newly promoted Finn Harps in a Finn Park thriller.
Harps’ record against Dundalk has borne no fruit in recent seasons. During their last stint in the top flight, the Donegal side lost all six league games against the Lilywhites in 2016 and 2017, failing to find the net while conceding 20 goals.
But this time there was some joy for Ollie Horgan’s battling side.
Dundalk almost took the lead on 21 minutes when Seán Murray found Patrick Hoban inside the box and his spectacular effort just whizzed outside the upright.
On 32 minutes Hoban was crunched down by Keith Cowan and from the resulting free, Dean Massey’s measured shot smacked off the crossbar.
But Harps took the lead on 41 minutes when defender Keith Cowan rose about the visiting defence to head home a Raffaele Cretaro cross.
And Harps almost grabbed a second moments later when Nathan Boyle snaked his way into the box and tried to pick out the advancing Seán Boyd, but Chris Shields made a vital interception.
Harps began the second half positively and Gary Rogers spilled a Cretaro shot and Boyd was then denied by the advancing Dundalk netminder.
But Dundalk equalised on 70 minutes when captain Brian Gartland met a Michael Duffy corner with a thundering header from close range.
In a gripping final 15 minutes, Murray fired across the face of the Harps goal, while Niall McGinley was thwarted at the other end by a last ditch tackle from Seán Hoare.
Tempers boiled over at the final whistle with stewards and match officials having to separate players and management on both sides.
FINN HARPS: Burke; Borg, Cowan, Todd; Kavanagh, Coyle, Cretaro (McGinley, 75 mins), Harkin, O'Reilly; Boyd (Place, 66 mins), Boyle (McAleer, 86 mins).
DUNDALK: Rogers; Gannon, Hoare, Gartland, Massey; Shields, Jarvis (Flores, 76 mins); Mountney (D. Kelly, 65 mins), Murray (Dummigan, 85 mins), Duffy; Hoban.
Referee: R Rogers (Dublin).
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